The Darkened Path
by theblindbandit1
Summary: Sequel to Complications. A new Avatar begins her journey, with the help of her friends Rien and Miki, who will discover a life changing secret when their mother is taken by a rising threat to the world's balance. I do not own Avatar
1. Chapter 1

"I still don't see why we have to wear these clothes." Miki complained staring at the outfit her mother held in front of her. It was the ceremonial attire for the royal family, with some modifications to attribute to Miki's airbender status. Toph sighed and pinched her nose with frustration.

"I've told you several times Miki, the new Avatar is coming to the Nation to start their earthbending training with me. Your father wants us to dress nice for the ceremony the Fire Sages are holding today. He even changed your robes. Just wear them this one time." Toph explained trying to keep her temper in check. Miki rolled her eyes then took the robes.

"Fine." She sighed and blew the door to her room shut with airbending before starting to change. Toph sighed angrily as her hair was blown from the bun that the servants had put it into and tried to fix it. Once Miki had changed she played with the fabric disapprovingly. The seventeen year old airbender was used to light breathable fabrics, which was nothing like the fabric of the robes she now wore. Toph smiled at her then turned towards the door seeing Zuko come down the hallway. As he stopped outside the door Toph bent it open.

"We're almost ready Zuko, no need to hurry us." Toph said as she smiled. Zuko looked from her to Miki smiled.

"You look beautiful Miki. You've grown up so much." Zuko commented then wrapped an arm around Toph, who leaned against him lightly. Miki sighed and walked past the two heading out of the room. Toph took a deep breath and hung her head.

"She's so stubborn..." She lamented, causing Zuko to laugh.

"She's like her mother. You were once like that too Toph. She'll grow out of it." He remarked.

"You weren't so perfect either scar face." She countered before heading out to where they were supposed to be gathering. Zuko sighed hearing her old nickname for him before following. They had been married for sixteen years, but he still found new ways to bring her old temper back to life.

Once Zuko made it to the entrance hall of the palace he looked around to see all of his family members. Rien was hiding in the shadows leaning against the wall, obviously letting his mind float elsewhere. Miki was standing next to her mother, her armed crossed giving him an angered look. It seemed that the only child of his that was actually paying attention was his only child, the crown prince, Lu Ten. Other than his family and the guards, there was no one in the hall.

"So you make us get all dressed up for this thing and they don't even show up on time?" Miki cracked. Toph nudged her.

"Miki!" She exclaimed. "Show some respect. It's a long journey from the Southern Water Tribe." Miki opened her mouth to argue back but stopped looking toward the doors as they opened. Two men in white lotus robes walked in followed by a girl. Rien looked up then looked surprised as he saw the girl.

"Korra?" He asked confused. The girl looked at him and smiled some waving. Rien looked at her then turned his gaze towards his parents, evidently confused at why their childhood friend was here. His mother also looked confused then looked at Zuko.

"Why didn't Sokka and Suki tell us their daughter was the Avatar?" She asked Zuko, who took a deep breath.

"They told me." He admitted. "I couldn't tell you because no one was supposed to know. For her own protection." Toph scowled then punched him in the arm. Zuko jumped back and rubbed the quickly bruising area with his hand. "Ow! What was that for?"

"For keeping secrets." She replied, a smug look on her face. Te girl accompanying the two White Lotus sentries smiled and walked over to Toph and hugged her.

"Sifu Toph! I can't believe you get to teach me earthbending like you did for the last Avatar! I can't wait to start training." She exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of her feet to emphasize her excitement. "I've been reading all of the stories about the great war and have so many questions!"

Toph took a deep breath. She was not prepared for the amount of energy her pupil would have, and Korra was evidently spewing energy through her ears. Toph quickly put her hands on Korra's shoulders and stopped her bouncing. The vibrations were already giving her a headache.

"I'm glad you're excited Korra, but your training will have to wait until tomorrow. Today is reserved for your arrival ceremony and to get you settled in." She explained, keeping tone calm.

Korra bowed her head giving a disappointed look. "Who cares about the ceremony?" She asked. Miki smiled hearing this and patted her friends shoulder.

"That's what I said!" She exclaimed then looked at her parents. "I told you there was no point in getting all fussy over this. Korra doesn't want to do it either and..."

"Enough Miki." Zuko commanded, interrupting whatever Miki was going to say next. Miki shut her mouth and turned her back to her father. Zuko then turned his attention back to Korra. "The world has been waiting for the Avatar to reappear into the world Korra. I think the people of the Fire Nation has a right to know that you are here." He explained. Korra looked at him then at the sentries, who both nodded in agreement.

"Whatever." She said then looked at Miki, noticing her clothing. "What in the world are you wearing Miki?" She asked. "You look like someone dumped a bucket of leechee juice on those clothes."

Miki laughed some and nodded. "I know right? I hate these clothes but Mom says I have to wear them to the stupid ceremony."

Zuko sighed as the girls continued talking then looked at Toph. "I would say that she's like you Toph, but its clear she got Sokka's sense of humor." He lamented. Toph shrugged, listening to the two girls talk instead of listening to Zuko. Miki always seemed happiest when Korra was around, and constantly exchanged letters with her. Having Korra in the palace while she learned may help Miki find her own path.

A servant went over to Zuko and bowed before informing him that the Fire Sages were ready to begin the ceremony and asked for him to bring everyone immediately. Zuko nodded then looked back towards his family and cleared his throat.

"It's time to go." He said then headed to the landing where he had been crowned Fire Lord eighteen years before. All of them but Korra went out onto the landing to see the large crowd that had gathered for the occasion. Zuko went to the front and gave his speech, then announced Korra's name.

Korra came out onto the landing and looked at the large crowd, looking nervous and frightened. She had never seen so many people before, the Southern Water Tribe had no where near this many people. She took a deep breath then looked at the crowd.

"My name is Korra, and I am the new Avatar."


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay Sifu Toph. I'm ready to start my earthbending training!" Korra shouted excitedly. Toph let out a deep sigh as she made her way to the training grounds in the underground bunker below the palace. Rien followed her wearing his normal training garb, a green sleeveless shirt accompanied by brown shorts and a large leather belt. Toph on the other hand was wearing a full length shirt and pants under her tunic, hiding her scarred skin. Once they were at the large metal doors, Toph stepped forward then put her hand on the raised lock, metalbending the tumblers inside to their open positions. Once the lock was fully opened, the doors began to wind back into the walls.

"Whoa..." Korra awed, watching the walls disappear. Toph took a deep breath then walked into the bunker. Rien followed her before stopping, taking a bending stance. With one fluid motion he stomped his foot to the ground while bringing his working arm upward, bending hundreds of crystals up from the earth.

"Cool! When are you going to teach me that?" Korra exclaimed. Hearing her Rien looked towards her then chuckled.

"Oh, you were serious." He said, leaving Korra with a puzzled look. He shook his head and headed to the oldest part of the training area. Korra watched him before turning her gaze towards Toph, who smiled.

"Come on Korra. And take your shoes off, you won't be needing them." She instructed before heading down the same path Rien had just disappeared down. Korra looked down at her shoes then quickly followed her.

When Toph stopped, Korra stopped seeing blocks of earth scatted around, a large boulder embedded in one of the walls, numerous perches and a pair of earthen walls. This wasn't at all what she had expected. Earthbending was just bending rocks out of the ground, so why did they need all this stuff. Toph turned to face her putting her hands on her hips.

"Shoes off, come on." She said pointing at Korra's feet. Korra sat down and quickly began to unstrap her leather boots. Once they were unstrapped she pulled them off and set them aside and stood up. Toph smiled and moved one of her hands down tapping her heal to the ground, bending the boots into the ground. Korra jumped back a little surprised then looked at her master.

"What was that for?" She asked. Toph bent a large block of earth up at waist height in front of Korra.

"You won't be needing them until you can bend them from the ground." Toph explained. "Rien! Put the weights down and come demonstrate the first exorcize please."

Hearing his mother's calls Rien walked over, holding a metal weight then looked at her. "Which one we doing?" Toph picked up a contraption that looked like a pair of handcuffs that, instead of being held together by a length of chain, had a metal rod between the two cuffs.

"We need to toughen her hands, so we're starting with the chopper drill." She said then tossed the cuffs at Rien, who quickly dropped the weight in his hand to catch them. The weight on the other hand fell to land right on the tanned girl's bare foot. Korra bit her lip feeling her foot crushed by the metal, then cried out in pain. She bent down and pushed the weight from her foot before grabbing the throbbing limb and bouncing on the other.

"Ow! Ow ow ow!" She yelped. Toph sighed rubbing her face with her hands. This was going to be longer than she thought. Rien watched her running his hand through his raven-colored hair then went over to Korra.

"Korra, sit down and take a deep breath. The pain goes away if you just calm down." He assured, pushing the younger girl down to sit on the block of earth that his mother had bent up just a little while before. Korra sat and slowly bent a small amount of water from the air, just as her aunt Katara had shown her years before and formed it around her hand placing it over her injured foot. The water began to glow a brilliant blue as she eased the pain surging with each beat of her heart. Toph bent herself a stool and sat down crossing her legs. She understood the pain the young Avatar was experiencing. Rien, having only one functioning arm, was always lifting weights to keep it strong, and he was fond of twenty pound weights at the moment.

Once the pain died down Korra took a deep breath and let the water around her hand and foot drop to the ground before getting up. 'Seeing' this Toph stood up and shifted her heal across the ground, bending her stool back even with the floor. She could tell by the distribution of Korra's weight between the two feet that her hurt foot was still bothering her greatly, she was putting very little of her weight on it.

"Sifu Toph... can we start tomorrow maybe?" She whispered, but Toph's well developed hearing picked up the question. Rien also caught it and looked towards his mother, knowing she wasn't one for being a 'pansy' as she always put it.

Instead, she did something that Rien never expected.

"Go rest that foot Korra" Toph said, pointing her hand towards the already bruising foot. "To be an earthbender you must have a strong root to the earth, the connection is everything. I can see that because of the injury your connection has become weakened." She explained then smiled.

"You have already shown that you will make a great earthbender. You are stubborn and brunt, and are ready to take things on head on. Tomorrow, we will put those traits to the test." She said then went over and helped Korra hobble to the entrance of the training area. Rien stared in disbelief as they left. His mother had never, NEVER, stop a training session because of a minor injury, let alone before any work was even done. Every time he had sustained an injury, even the time he had broken his hand, she had moved on to a drill that did not affect the injured area.

'_Suck it up. Pain makes you stronger.' _She had told him. But now she was helping Korra out just fifteen minutes after they had gotten there, comforting her even. The idea of it just struck him as odd.

Once back above the surface, Toph led Korra to the courtyard where Miki was. Korra smiled and limped over to the airbender, who was meditating under the apple tree, before plopping herself beside her. Miki cracked her left eye open to glance at the person bothering her before closing it again continuing to focus solely on her breathing. Korra watched her for a minute, before waving a hand in front of Miki's face trying to get her attention. Miki's nose scrunched up in frustration trying to ignore her, but as the movement continued she opened her eyes and glared at the Water Tribe girl. Korra looked back at her, confused.

"What?"

"Couldn't you tell that I was doing something?" Miki snapped. Korra was taken aback. Miki had never yelled at her before. "Aren't you supposed to be learning earthbending with mom?"

"Rien dropped a weight on my foot so your mom said we'd start tomorrow." Korra explained, showing Miki her foot, which was just a little swollen but dark blue in color. Miki's gray eyes moved to the foot then back at Korra.

"Okay, well I am trying to meditate. So could you find something else to do until I'm done?" Miki asked. But instead of getting up to leave Korra smirked.

"Come on airhead, lighten up" She said then bent a large stream of water from the fountain and sent it at Miki. Miki slid out from under the tree, water dripping from her clothing.

"You want a bending battle Korra, I'll give you a bending battle!" Miki shouted then got up sending a spiral of air at the waterbender before wringing the water from her dark brown hair. Korra rolled away from the mini tornado and bent water from the fountain. Miki took a bending stance, waiting for Korra to make a move. She was not very good at distance combat. Her dad had sent scouts to every one of the air temples to collect scrolls on airbending, and each one focused on being near your enemy.

Smiling, Korra took advantage of Miki's weakness and sent the water at her, bending the tentacle like form to grab Miki's leg and lift her into the air. Miki yelled in surprise finding herself upside-down in the air.

"Put me down! Korra this isn't funny put me down!" She commanded, getting a nearby guards attention. Korra smiled and bent the stream so that Miki was over the pond then followed the orders, letting the water fall naturally into the pond, Miki along with it.

"What is going on in here?"

Korra quickly turned to see Fire Lord Zuko standing at the entrance of the courtyard, opened her mouth to answer just as a blast of air knocked her face first into the grass. Zuko looked from where she was on the ground to see Miki, sopping wet, standing over her. The thin and lightweight clothing she wore for comfort might have been baggy when dry, but now they were skin tight and visibly transparent.

Korra lifted her head, spitting out a tuft of grass from her mouth before moving to look at what had hit her. Miki crossed her arms smirking down at her friend, completely unaware of her wardrobe malfunction. On the other hand, Korra noticed and burst out into laughter. Miki's look of triumph turned into one of confusion before her cheeks flushed bright red as she looked down at herself. The guard who had seen the girls fighting quickly ran over to the princess and held out a towel. Miki snatched it and wrapped it around herself, bright red from embarrassment.

"We were just playing Fire Lord Zuko." Korra explained as she began to stop giggling. Zuko looked from Korra to Miki, who looked away then headed inside without saying anything. Korra watched her then looked down, realizing how much her actions had hurt her friend. Sitting up, she looked at Zuko then down.

"It may be best not to make her hate you Korra, she's the only airbender left in the world. And you will need to learn from her when the time comes." Zuko said, going over to her. Korra thought over what he had just said, then looked up at him.

"Fire Lord Zuko, if you are a firebender and Sifu Toph is an earthbender, then..." She paused to take a deep breath before finishing her question. "How did you two... uh... make an airbender?"

The question took Zuko by surprise. Of course he knew that one day he and Toph would be asked about this subject. But he was expecting the question would come from Miki herself, and he wasn't ready to answer. He took a small breath and looked at Korra.

"It's a long and complicated story Korra. And its one that is not ready to be told."

* * *

**Author's Note:**** Sorry that it took so long to update. School has been a nightmare lately. Please leave reviews and constructive critism. Every little bit helps. Since my last story was really serious, I am trying to add flares of humor to this one. Hope you like.**


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you mean you don't think Dad is my real dad?" Miki asked, her eyes staring in the blue ones of Korra. "Of course he's my dad. He's the only person Mom's been married to and she would not cheat on him." Korra shrugged and thought over her answer before speaking aloud.

"All I'm saying Miki is that a firebender and an earthbender don't make an airbender. Bending comes from the family linage, so two non-benders can give birth to a bender if their ancestors were benders, but two benders who have never had a drop of another bendings blood in their roots can't have a child with that bending. It's physically impossible." Korra explained. Miki looked away from her after she had finished speaking and closed her eyes. The same thoughts had occurred to her when she had been learning about her father's background.

Minutes of silence passed before Miki looked up and spoke.

"If he's not my father then who is Korra?" She asked quietly, not wanting to believe what she had just said. "I'm the only airbender left in the world."

"Well, your older than me, and the Avatar before me according to the cycle was an airbender, so maybe him." Korra suggested. Miki shook her head and looked out the window towards the setting sun before looking down at the floor.

"I refuse to believe that Fire Lord Zuko isn't my dad." She whispered then looked at Korra. "I grew up with him treating me as his daughter and he's the only person who has ever been a father to me. Even if he isn't my biological father, his is my dad." Korra nodded and sat down on Miki's bed thinking before speaking again.

"Aren't you just a little bit curious about who really is your dad?'

"Just drop the subject Korra." Miki snapped, rubbing her arm. She didn't want to think about that anymore. It couldn't be true.

* * *

"We both knew this day would come Toph" Zuko said pacing their bedroom. Toph sat on the bed, rubbing her face with her hands. It was too soon. She was not ready to explain her past to the twins and Zuko knew that. But at that point keeping the secret was obviously the harder choice.

"I know Zuko." She replied dropping her hands taking a deep breath. "It's just too soon for me. I'm still not ready to talk about this with them." She still had nightmares of the night in the temple, along with the months of torture she had endured after. Zuko stopped pacing and sat down on the bed beside her wrapping his arm around her.

"I'm not saying that we have to tell them right now Toph" He said smiling. "But we need to be ready to tell them. I may not be their father, but I have tried to take A-" He stopped suddenly as he felt Toph's body tense up. She knew he was about to say his name, but he caught himself just before. "their father's place." He finished.

"You've been a great father to them Zuko." Toph said, relaxing as she let out a small breath. "But you're right. I'm going to have to tell them sometime. But not tonight." She sighed then shifted lying down on the bed. Zuko smiled and kissed her forehead gently.

"Sleep tight Toph. I'm going to go check on everything before I join you." He said softly. Toph closed her eyes and nodded as she let out a small yawn. He just smiled and pulled the blankets over her before leaving.

* * *

That next morning was not a happy one for any of the Fire Nation Palace's inhabitants, Lu Ten in particular. It was early morning when the eight year old prince had been shaken awake by a group that he had only met a few times with his father. The Fire Sages. The tired boy rubbed his eyes sitting up, confused as to why he was being awakened before the sun's rising.

"What... what's going on?" He asked quietly as his vision cleared up. By the dim light in the room he could see the sage's grim faces, and instantly knew something was terribly wrong. "What happened to dad?"

"We're sorry to tell you this Prince Lu Ten, but Fire Lord Zuko passed away last night." The head sage explained then looked at him. "Now the burden of the crown falls to you, Fire Lord Lu Ten."

**A/N: I know this chapter is short and only has three little passages in time, but the next chapter is where a lot of things will happen and will most likely be longer than any of the other chapters so far. Sorry. Please watch for next chapter sometime in the next week.**


	4. Chapter 4

After waking his brother and sister, Lu Ten was led into his parent's bedroom by the Fire Sages. As he walked in the first thing that he noticed is that there was no sign of forced entry, the door was not kicked down, but the window was open.

"We believe that the assassin came in through the window. It was quite hot last night, so we're guessing it was left open in order to cool the room with the breeze." A royal guard explained to the group. "This..." He paused lifting up a small syringe and needle, remnants of a yellow liquid at the bottom. "Was found in the late Fire Lord's arm."

"What is-"

"Concentrated white jade powder mixed with water. A very deadly poison that kills within a minute of injection." The guard interrupted Lu Ten.

"So Dad didn't die of natural causes..." Rien muttered, running everything through his head.

"He was murdered!" Miki exclaimed. "Who would do such a thing!"

"That's what we're trying to figure out." The guard answered calmly.

As the conversation continued, Rien scanned the room. This didn't make any sense. His mom would have seen the attacker coming in as soon as they were on the windowsill. The next thought that crossed his mind was where was his mother? It was early in the morning and she was not known for waking up early.

"Where's mom?" Lu Ten, who had been silent since the guard had explained the contents of the syringe spoke the question that had been lingering on Rien's tongue. The absence of their mother finally hit Miki and she swung her head around, scanning the room. Her eyes caught a piece of paper that was on her mother's pillow and she quickly went around the bed picking it up. Unrolling it she noticed that there were only seven words on the paper that made absolutely no sense to her.

_Her mind is mine. A phoenix rises._

"The Fire Lady wasn't here when we found him. At this point she is our main suspect in this matter." The Fire Sage stated.

"Mom would never do such a thing!" Lu Ten shouted. "She loved dad and would never hurt him more than she normally does!" The sage shook his head and looked at the new Fire Lord.

"If you knew your mother's entire past, you would not be saying the same things your highness." The words took all three of the kids by surprise. They had heard all about their parents past, the war stories that their father told, of how their mother learned earthbending and even the story of their father's scar. What stories had they been keeping from them?

"What do you mean by that?" Rien snarled at the sage, holding onto the thin thread of control that he had left.

"Your mother has killed people in the past, people known to be her friends in fact. Once someone kills once its almo-"

"Shut up!" The sage was interrupted as a rock slammed into the side of his scull. Both Rien and Miki had attacked the sage, their bending attacks combined to cause the sage to slam straight through the closed bedroom door before collapsing to the base of the hallway wall. Rien walked out into the hallway, the ground shaking with each step and grabbed the sage's robe pushing him against the wall. "How _dare_ you insult our mother! Our father is murdered and you have the nerve to blame our mother for it?"

"Rien..." Putting a hand on her brother's shoulder Miki tried to calm Rien down, but instead he shrugged her hand off and threw the sage down the hallway.

"My mother is a war hero! She fought alongside dad during the great war and was the first person to trust him even after he hurt her!" He growled, stomping the ground with his foot on the final word, cracking the floor down the entire hallway. He went to deliver a final blow but was held back by two pairs of hands.

"Rien! Killing him won't bring dad back... Just ignore him." Miki said softly. Rien closed his eyes venting his anger out with his breathing. Two guards from their parent's room quickly made their way to the sage's side helping him to his feet. The sage's eyes burned with anger glaring at Rien wanting to strike the disrespectful boy down.

"You should have been killed along with your traitor mother seventeen years ago! Fire Lord Zuko should never have spared any of your lives, or sunk as low as to marry the woman responsible for his girlfriends death! If the Fire Sages had our way both you and your sister would be banished from the nation for good!" He fumed before making his way down the hallway leaving all three of the late Fire Lord's children stunned and confused.

Miki was the first to show a reaction to the words, her wall of strength that had been crumbling since she had seen her father's deceased body finally crumbling as she fell to her knees and started to cry. All of the commotion that had happened over the past couple days left her confused as to where she really came from, and now she had lost one of her roots to her past.

Lu Ten and Rien quickly knelt to their sister's side, trying to hold their composure. This was a dark day for the three of them.

**Author's Note: Man has it been a while since I updated this story. I started this chapter right after posting the last one, but this chapter was just hard to put together for me, trying to get the emotion and the starting of the plot in this story all in this chapter was hard, but the amount of reviews for the previous chapters and for the prequel Complications really helped.**

**Also I have links to pictures of Miki and Rien. Please go to my deviantart page which is theblindbandit1 infront of deviantarts main www and search my gallery for Rien or Miki**


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